WARZONE

brutal games of interstellar corporate warfare

abillionsuns // expansion 01
 abillionsuns

WARZONE
Warzone is a new contract set for A Billion Suns, the miniature wargame
of interstellar fleet combat. It allows players to use A Billion Suns to
tell brutal stories of military might and system-shaking clashes of far-
future weaponry.

A Billion Suns, played with the Core Systems contract set provided in
the rulebook, is a game of cleverly and frugally assigning resources,
telling stories of industrial espionage and resource capture. The
Warzone contract set changes the feel of A Billion Suns considerably.
The Warzone contract set allows you to bring all-out corporate war
to your tables. The stories these new contracts tell are different, and
you’ll find a host of new tactical questions to wrestle with.

Designer’s Note: The Warzone contract set is

designed to provide larger games, with more models,
even at scale 5, so you don’t need to select a scale
10 or similar to get a huge space battle using this
contract set. Although, feel free to push the scale
higher than you are used to!

Written and designed by Mike Hutchinson, copyright 2021. Illustrations by Zee Durrani.
Special thanks to Glenn Ford, Rufus Howard, John Brindley, James Doxey, Paul Butler,
Gerwyn Walters, Daniel Vintersvärd, Sable Badger, Mark Langille, Ken Falkson and the R&D
community on Facebook. Visit http://abillionsuns.space for more downloads and expansions.

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Warzone Rules
If the CEOs both agree to play a game of A Billion Suns with the Warzone contract set,
the following additional rules apply:

Two Contracts Combat Formations

When setting up a game that uses the During a Warzone game, battlegroups
Warzone contract set, only generate two classes of Mass 2 and 3 may double their
contracts. coherence to 6”, including when deploying.

Wartime Economy Close Reserves

During a Warzone game, a CEO’s credit
tracker may never go into deficit. A CEO
may not take an action that would move
their credit tracker into deficit.
War Bonds: In a Warzone game, each
CEO starts the game with 0 credits (as
normal) and ⓢ War Bonds, which may be
represented by poker chips, coins or gems.
Cash In: At any time during the Jump In
Phase or Tactical Phase, a CEO may “cash
in” one or more of their War Bonds to gain
50 credits per War Bond cashed in.
Rapid Re-budgeting Cycles: At the end
of each round, every CEO must reset their
credits tracker to zero, meaning that any
credits granted from War Bonds must be
spent during that round or they are wasted.
During a Warzone game, when a battlegroup
jumps out, it may be placed aside, out of
play, into Close Reserves. When placed into
Close Reserves, the battlegroup preserves all
tokens, status markers and damage tokens.
During any subsequent Jump Phase, a
CEO may spend a CMD token from Jump
In to deploy a single friendly battlegroup
from Close Reserves into play. Deployment
follows the normal Jump Range rules. It
does not need to be requisitioned again.
Game End
A Warzone game ends at the end of round 4.

Military Command & Control

A CEO may never have more than ⓢ+3
battlegroups in play. They may not take an
action (such as jumping in or scrambling)
that would result in them having more that
ⓢ+3 battlegroups in play.

Military-Grade Jump Points

During a Warzone game, all battlegroups
and objects may count their Jump Range as
12-ⓜ” when jumping in, or jumping out, or
jump hopping. E.g. Cruiser battlegroups have
a jump range of 9”. This does not apply when
scrambling ships from carriers.

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 New Ship Classes
Here are five new ships classes and an errata’d Carrier class that you are free to use in
your games of A Billion Suns, if all CEOs agree. These new ship classes are not limited to
Warzone games only and may be used in games that use other contract sets.

Primary Weapon Systems Auxiliary Weapon Systems

Ship Class Cost Mass Thrust Silhouette Shields Weapon Range Dice Dmg Weapon Range Dice Dmg

Stealth Bomber Wing 5 0 4" 1 0 Heavy Torpedoes 6" - 12" 2D10 3 - - - -

Light Carrier 5 2 6" 5 2 - - - - Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1

Defense Platform 5 2 - 6 3 - - - - Laser Cannon 0” - 9” 2D8 2

Assault Carrier 10 2 5" 6 3 - - - - Auto Blasters 0" - 6" 3D6 1

Carrier [Updated] 15 3 3” 7 5 - - - - Turbo Blasters 0” - 6” 4D6 1

Battle Carrier 25 3 3” 8 5 Light Railguns 9" - 18" 2D8 2 Defense Grid 0” - 9” 4D8 2

Errata: The Carrier ship class now has auxiliary Turbo Blasters at no extra cost.

Defense Platform Assault Carrier

Once deployed, Defense Platforms do not
activate, although they may make passive
attacks. Although they do not activate,
Defense Platforms count as friendly ships
for the purposes for command effects,
contracts and similar rules. A Defense
Platform has a 360º auxiliary arc of fire.
If multiple Defense Platforms are
deployed as a single battlegroup, after
the battlegroup has been deployed: each
Defense Platform counts as an individual
battlegroup for the rest of the game.
Assault Carriers are “Carriers” and may
scramble ships. Each ship may only
scramble ships once per game. They may
scramble any Mass 0 or 1 ship class.
Battle Carrier
Battle Carriers are “Carriers” and may
scramble ships. They may scramble any
Mass 0 or 1 ship class.

Light Carrier
Light Carriers are “Carriers” and may
scramble ships (see p35 of the A Billion
Suns rulebook). Each ship may only
scramble ships once per game.

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Utility Ship Tactical Loadouts
When you requisition a Light or Medium Utility Ship battlegroup in a Warzone game,
you may choose one tactical loadout. All the ships in the battlegroup gain that loadout.

● Mine Layer Refit: ships in this battlegroup gain Mine Layers.

● Shield Jammer Refit: ships in this battlegroup gain Shield Jammers.
● Repair Drones Refit: ships in this battlegroup gain Repair Drones.
● Mirage Field Refit: ships in this battlegroup gain Mirage Field Generators.

Mine Layers: This battlegroup may scan
itself to place one Mine Token within 1”
of each ship in the battlegroup. A Mine
Token is a Mass 3 stationary object with
Silhouette 1. In the Passive Attacks Step,
any Mine Token that is within 3” of an
enemy ship explodes (doing 3D6 damage
1 attacks to all ships within 3” and is then
removed from play).
Shield Jammers: Any battlegroup that
is within 3” of one or more enemy ships
with Shield Jammers suffers a -1 to it’s
Shield value.
Repair Drones: The battlegroup may
scan an object or a friendly battlegroup:
remove 1 damage token from the target
for each ship in the scanning battlegroup
within scan range.
Mirage Field Generators: All friendly
ships within 3” of this utility ship gain
the “Mirage Field” special rule. While
attempting to target a ship with the
“Mirage Field” special rule, the attacking
ship must reduce the maximum range
of all its weapon systems by 6” (to a
minimum of 6”).

For example, if a Monitor

attempts to target an enemy ship
with the “Disrupted Silhouette”
special rule, it must consider the
maximum range of its Heavy
Railguns to be 12”, but it’s Turbo
Blasters are unaffected, as they
are maximum range 6” already.

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 Battlezone Effects
Here are two new battlezone effects which can be used in your Warzone games. They
provide special rules for one of the tables in your game. During set up, prior to placing
objects, the Systems Administrator must declare which tables are classified with which
battlezone effects.

Deep Space (Black J) Debris Storm (Red J)

Two fleets are on an intercept course, this
desolate point in deep space just happens to
be where their paths intersect. This combat
zone is far outside the normal operational
range of our lighter ships. We will have to
rely on carriers to get our pilots into battle.
When a table is classified as Deep Space,
Mass 0 or Mass 1 battlegroups may not
Jump In or jump hop onto the table.
They may be scrambled from carriers.
This battle is taking place in the wreckage
of a destroyed planet, with debris of all sizes
everywhere.
Any ship that moves more than 4” in
a single Movement Step on a table
classified as a Debris Storm counts
as having moved through an area of
dangerous space.
Feel free to step up plenty of dangerous
space (any mix of asteroids or space
debris) as you wish to illustate this effect.

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Warzone Contract Set
Victory Points, Not Contract Decks
The contracts in the Warzone contract set do not ask you to set up contract decks and do
not use them. Instead, players gain Victory Points (VP) throughout the game.

At the end of the game the CEO with the most VPs is the winner. In the event of a tie,
the tied CEO with the most unspent War Bonds is the winner. In the event of a tie on
that too, the game is a draw.

Warzone Contract Generator

When generating contracts for a Warzone game, draw two cards and refer to the
following table to generate two contracts. Unlike the Core Systems contracts, the
contracts do not need to be of unique suits, you may keep two of the same suit.

Card Type Contract

J♠ Battlezone Effect One table gains “Deep Space”. Draw another card.

Q♠ Contract Merge Conflict

K♠ Contract Hostile Takeover

J♥ Battlezone Effect One table gains “Debris Storm”. Draw another card.

Q♥ Contract Secure System

K♥ Contract Reconnaissance

J♣ Battlezone Effect One table gains “Deep Space”. Draw another card.

Q♣ Contract Take & Hold

K♣ Contract Jam Communications

J♦ Battlezone Effect One table gains “Debris Storm”. Draw another card.

Q♦ Contract Show of Force

K♦ Contract Break The Chain

After drawing a battlezone effect, one table must be classified with

that effect, then draw a replacement card.

Note: Several Warzone contracts award bonus CMD

tokens. These bonus CMD tokens are just awarded once,
and do not permanently increase the number of CMD
tokens a CEO gains during subsequent Command Phases.

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 Merge Conflict (Q ♠)
Two corps claims to this planet have clashing
timestamps. Merge conflict. Both claim this
system as their own. Only one corp can hold it.
Setup: Add 1 table. Set up a ♠ planetoid.
Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO with the
greatest combined mass of ships within 12”
♠
of the planetoid gains 1VP. If tied, no-one
scores.
Hostile Takeover (K ♠)
Our M&A team have completed due diligence
and worked hard to offer a fair price to your
shareholders. A Battle Carrier group has been
dispatched to complete final negotiations with
your board of directors.
Setup: Add 1 table. Set up a ♠ planetoid.
Dropships: If a Utility or Carrier battlegroup
♠
scans the planetoid, each ship in that
battlegroup that is within scan range may
place ⓜ Troop Tokens on the ♠
planetoid.
Battle on the Surface: In the end phase,
simultaneously, each CEO rolls a number
of D6 equal to the number of troop tokens
♠
they have on the planetoid. They roll an
additional D6 for each friendly Mass 2 or 3
♠
ship within 3” of the planetoid. For each
1 they roll, they may remove any one enemy
♠
troop token from the planetoid.
Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO with the
most troop tokens on the ♠
planetoid gains
1VP.
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Secure System (Q♥)
The materiel in this system is critical. Budget is
approved for sequestration of local third-party
engineering installations.
Setup: Add 1 table. Set up ⓢ Facilities.
Control: Each table is controlled by the CEO
with the greatest combined mass of ships on
that table.
Commandeer: When a Facility is scanned by
a Utility Ship battlegroup, it becomes friendly
to the CEO that scanned it. While friendlt,
the Facility will not target this CEO’s ships
with passive attacks.
Scoring: In the end phase, if a CEO controls
two or more tables, they gain 1VP.
Reconnaissance (K♥)
We are dangerously short on intel. We need to
know the enemy’s tactical load-outs and logistical
capabilities. Deploy short-range reconnaissance
beacons to tac-scan the enemy fleet.
Setup: Add 1 table. Set up ⓢ Facilities.
Deploy Beacon: Utility Ship battlegroups
may scan themselves to place one Recon
Beacon marker anywhere within scan range
of one of the ships in the battlegroup.
Strategic Bombing: When a Facility is
destroyed, the CEO that caused it to be
destroyed gains ⓢ/2 CMD tokens into their
Tactical command slot.
Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO with the
most enemy ships within 6” of their Recon
Beacons gains 1VP. If tied, no-one scores.
Then remove all Recon Beacons from play.
Borderlands (Q ) ♣ Show Of Force (Q♦)
These µ-space beacons demarcate our territory;
automatically and instantly updating the
interstellar plots in the Registry. Several beacons
in this sector just lit up proxmity alarms. Do not
allow the enemy to refine our boundary line.
Setup: Place ⓢ ComSats into play.
Control: The CEO with the greatest
combined mass of ships within 6” of a
ComSat controls that ComSat. If tied, no-one
controls it.
Listening Post: When a CEO spends a CMD
token on a battlegroup within 6” of a ComSat
controlled by an enemy CEO, that enemy
CEO gains a CMD token into their Tactical
command slot.
We have provided our standard terms, but the
local contractors do not appear to fully appreciate
our competitive position. A demonstration is
overdue.
Setup: Set up ⓢ areas of dangerous space.
Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO with the
greatest total combined cost of Mass 3 ships
in play gains 1VP. If tied, no-one scores.
Note: To calculate the “total
combined cost” of a set of ships,
total up each ship’s Cost value, e.g.
the cost that the CEO would have
paid to requisition them initially.

Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO that

controls the most ComSats gains 1VP. If tied,
no-one scores.

Exotic Artifacts (K ♣) Break The Chain (K♦)

Bizarre artifacts of unknown origin have been
discovered in this system. Redirect all available
resources to secure them. Priority zero.
Setup: Place ⓢ ComSats into play.
Control: A CEO may scan a ComSat with a
Utility Ship to take control of it. A ComSat
may only be controlled by one CEO at a time.
Several key executives are in this sector. They are
priority targets. Dismantle the chain of command.
Setup: Set up ⓢ areas of dangerous space.
Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO with the
most Mass 3 ships in play gains 1VP. If tied,
no-one scores.

Exotic Energy Signatures: When a CEO

spends a CMD token on a battlegroup within
6” of a ComSat they control, that CEO rolls
a D6: they gain a CMD token into their
Tactical command slot on the roll of a 2 or
less.

Scoring: In the end phase, the CEO that

controls the most ComSats gains 1VP.
If tied, no-one scores.

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 Warzone Campaigns
When playing a campaign featuring the Warzone contract set, if all CEOs agree, each
CEO may start the campaign with 30 capital, rather than the standard 10. After each
game, each CEO gains 2ⓢ capital.

Note: While this permits CEOs to begin the campaign with a lot
of competitive advantages, a CEO that chooses to invest heavily in
competitive advantages will potentially not have the breadth of ship
classes needed to compete in Warzone games.

In a campaign of A Billion Suns, you need not play the same contract set each game; you
could choose to play some games with the Core Systems contract set and others with the
Warzone contract set.

Errata
The following errata apply to all games of
A Billion Suns, not just Warzone games.

Jump Points
Jump Points have a Shields value of 6.
Combined Orders
With the larger and more powerful
fleets on the table, the Combined Order
command becomes very powerful. For
this reason, replace the first paragraph of
the Combined Order section [p28] with
the following:
Combined Orders: At the start of any
activation, a CEO may spend ⓜCMD
tokens from Tactical to select up to three
unactivated friendly battlegroups wholly
within ⓜ+3” of any ship in the active
battlegroup.
Carriers
The Carrier ship class now has auxiliary
Turbo Blasters at no extra cost.
Competitive Advantages
Because Stealth Bomber Wings are the
first ship class in the game to have a
base Silhouette of 1, the competitive
advantage “Light Frames” needs an
errata. replace the first paragraph of the
Combined Order section [p58] with the
following:
Light Frames: Battlegroups in this fleet
have -1 Silhouette (to a minimum of 1)
and +1 Thrust.

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 abillionsuns
Primary Weapon Systems Auxiliary Weapon Systems
Ship Class Cost Mass Thrust Silhouette Shields Weapon Range Dice Dmg Weapon Range Dice Dmg
Recon Wing 1 0 10" 2 0 Light Blasters 0” - 3” D6 1 - - - -
Fighter Wing 2 0 6" 3 0 - - - - Auto Blasters 0" - 6" 3D6 1
Bomber Wing 3 0 4” 3 0 Torpedoes 6" - 12" D10 3 - - - -

Stealth Bomber Wing 5 0 4" 1 0 Heavy Torpedoes 6" - 12" 2D10 3 - - - -

Light Utility Ship 1 1 4" 4 1 Light Blasters 0” - 3” D6 1 - - - -
Gunship 3 1 6" 4 1 Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1 Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1
Medium Utility Ship 2 2 4" 5 3 Mining Laser† 0" - 2" 2D12 5 - - - -
Corvette 5 2 10" 5 2 Turbo Blasters 0” - 6” 4D6 1 Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1

Light Carrier 5 2 6" 5 2 - - - - Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1

Defense Platform 5 2 - 6 3 - - - - Laser Cannon 0” - 9” 2D8 2

Frigate 7 2 4" 6 4 Light Railguns 9" - 18" 2D8 2 Turbo Blasters 0” - 6” 4D6 1

Assault Carrier 10 2 5" 6 3 - - - - Auto Blasters 0" - 6" 3D6 1

Monitor 10 2 3" 5 3 Heavy Railguns 9" - 18” 2D12 5 - - - -
Destroyer 12 3 3” 6 3 Cruise Missiles 18" - 36" 3D10 3 Turbo Blasters 0” - 6” 4D6 1

Carrier [Updated] 15 3 3” 7 5 - - - - Turbo Blasters 0” - 6” 4D6 1

Battle Carrier 25 3 3” 8 5 Light Railguns 9" - 18" 2D8 2 Defense Grid 0” - 9” 4D8 2
Cruiser 30 3 3” 8 6 Macro Beam 12" - 24” 2D12 5 Defense Grid 0” - 9” 4D8 2
Battleship 40 3 2” 10 5 Planet Smasher 12" - 24” 4D12 5 Defense Grid 0” - 9” 4D8 2
† The Mining Laser may only target stationary objects.

Primary Weapon Systems Auxiliary Weapon Systems

Object Mass Move Silhouette Shields Weapon Range Dice Dmg Weapon Range Dice Dmg
Asteroid 2 - 9 0 - - - - - - - -
Civilian Ship ⓢ/3 8" ⓢ 0 - - - - - - - -
Criminal Ship ⓢ/3 12" ⓢ ⓢ/2 - - - - Blasters 0” - 6” 2D6 1
Facility ⓢ/3 - ⓢ ⓢ/2 - - - - Laser Turrets 0” - 6” (ⓢ/2)D6 1
Lifeboat 1 4" ⓢ 0 - - - - - - - -

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Jump Point 3 - 5 6 - - - - - - - -
Space Kraken ⓢ/3 9" ⓢ ⓢ/2 Mouth Parts 0" - 3" (ⓢ/2)D10 3 Tentacles 0” - 3” ⓢD6 1